"Californians use 12 billion plastic bags a year and that less than 5% of the state’s plastic bags are recycled."

A few weeks ago, I emailed President Obama inviting him to come body surfing with us at Tower 26 in Ocean Park. Right at the top of the www.whitehouse.gov is an open invitation to, "Submit Your Comments and Questions Online. President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history. That begins with taking comments and questions from you, the public, through our website." It was a thoughtful sentiment, but how seriously would they take my body surfing invite? Turns out, very!

I checked my email from the beach parking lot this morning after I got out of the water. Jumping up and down, I read the following aloud to two of my friends.

"Dear Sara Bayles:

Thank you for inquiring about an opportunity to join President Obama for a morning of body-surfing.

President Obama values the goodwill and engagement of all those who contact the White House. However, the constraints of his schedule and thevolume of inquiries are such that the majority of requests must be declined. We have reviewed your request, and we unfortunately cannot arrange for a morning of body-surfing with the President.

Thank you for your interest in including the President in your plans. We appreciate your understanding.

Sincerely,

The White House Office of Appointments and Scheduling"

There was a one in a billion chance he'd actually come down and catch some waves with us. But I will say I'm still super pleased that the White House responded. And I like to imagine that there's some small chance the President got to see the email I sent and got a good chuckle out of it. If not him, maybe an aide who then decided the request was sincere and quirky enough to respond to.

Whatever happened to warrant an email response, I am totally STOKED!

I'll keep waving to Marine 1 as it flies over our little shore break in Santa Monica the next time President Obama comes to LA, and maybe, just maybe there will be an opening in his schedule to join us!